After the death of her son, Elizabeth faces the challenges of moving on with her life, until some old friends return to help her. When danger looms, will her loved ones be safe from her mistakes and will she will able to move on from her past regrets.

A/N: Finally an update! Yay! And you will be happy that there is only one chapter after this one. I loved writing this story, but it is so hard to end it. At least for me it is. I just hope that after the next chapter that I have created an ending that suites the story and ties up any lose ends.

Thank you to all those that have read the story and reviewed. It gives me the inspiration to carry on even as I watch GH fall apart.

Chapter Twenty-Four

It was close to three am when the back door finally opened. Looking up and seeing the dark expressions on both men's face, Johnny just remained silent as he handed out a couple of beers along with the one that he was retrieving for himself. He knew that the nights events had been a long time coming, but none of them had ever liked to take out woman. But he had to admit that Samantha McCall was the one exception. He would have loved to taken that trashy bitch out, but he knew that Morgan had to be the one that righted the wrong that he had allowed by letting her harm Elizabeth and the boys.

John sank into a chair and released a groan. "Everything quiet here tonight?"

"All except for Emily having a meltdown because Alexis showed up here looking for Zander."

"Damn," Jason muttered. "Did you have to contain Em?"

Johnny snickered. "No. A.J. threw her in the snow and then shoved Alexis in as well. I was afraid to go near them. They were snarling and screaming at one another something fierce. But I was pissed at both of them by the time it was over. They woke both the boys and Elizabeth up."

Wincing at that, John had to admit that the mental picture of both women in the snow cracked him up. "So, is Emily speaking to A.J.?"

"Not at the moment. But she went to stay with Edward since the house is empty now. Him and A.J. fought over ELQ so he moved into a hotel room until he finds a place." Turning his focus to his former boss, Johnny could see the pain in his eyes. "Did everything go like discussed?"

Coming back to the present, Jason rubbed his jaw. "Yeah. I was just thinking about all the damage that she did here. To everyone that she came into contact with."

"All you can do is learn from the mistake, Jason. We all made them."

"None of yours tried to kill your son," he countered sadly.

John snorted. "No. But you forget that Lucky was on all of us, even Liz, and he was involved in that mess." He glanced at the clock on the wall and winced. "I need to go to bed. I promised Cam that we could go to Kelly's for breakfast." He paused and looked at Jason. "Em and I are taking Jake as well. You should join us."

"Thanks," he murmured as John disappeared up the back stairs to the room that he was using. Seeing that Johnny was watching him, Jason just returned the stare.

"I am just surprised that you two are being so civil. I know that he blamed you for a long time."

"Yeah, well, he was right to. I seriously screwed up." Jason exhaled heavily. "I look back now after finally seeing all that I missed these past years, and I am shocked that you all did not kill me like you did Sonny."

"We were all ready to, except for Emily and A.J. of course. But I knew that Elizabeth would never want that. Lorenzo was harder to convince, but he was thinking as a father."

"That still blows me away," Jason admitted with a frown. "Her being his daughter is just a weird twist of fate."

Green eyes sparkled with amusement. "You do know that we all tried to protect her from a life that she was actually more suited to than all of us, except for maybe Zacchara. He was born into just like she was." Sitting the empty bottle down, he lost all traces of friendliness from his face. "Did the bitch say anything that we didn't already know?"

"I really didn't give her the option. I was just so pissed, hell, I still am. I let her ruin my life."

"No, you let a wide variety of people too close. You allowed them to hurt Liz and the boys. But it is not as bad as you think, Morgan. Your son is alive and back with his family. Elizabeth and Cam are happy. You need to accept the good that came out of this clusterfuck. Not everyone was going to get the happily ever after, Jason."

Acknowledging the honest remark, he raised sad eyes and looked at his one time friend. "You are."

Johnny shook his head. "Elizabeth's happiness is all that I want. Her and the kids come first, Jason. They always have for me. You and Zacchara both are connected with her. He is moving on. Now you have to let go too. If you really loved her, you would just want her to be happy, no matter if it wasn't with you. Stop being selfish, Jason."

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Elizabeth evaded his arms and shook her head at him with a smirk on her face. "Oh no, O'Brien. You are not funny!"

"I'm not trying to be funny," he countered as he stalked her. "Did you honestly think that I would just let your stunt this morning go?" he growled.

Eyes wide with delight, she quickly danced away as he grabbed for her again. When she managed to escape his arms once again, she tilted her head and studied him carefully. "I already said that I am sorry. You are being unreasonable."

"Uh huh. You telling Cam and Jake to throw ice cold water on me while I was sleeping is not reasonable behavior for a mother of two with another one on the way." When her eyes softened at the mention of the baby, he sneakily grasped her and pulled her against his chest. "You know what?" he whispered smoothly into the shell of her ear. "I think that you are amazing, even if you do have a devious mind, Lizzie."

Wrapping her arms around his neck, she nuzzled into his embrace. "I am only devious for you, O'Brien."

They sank into the deep cushions of the couch as he still held her. "I am so thankful that I am here with you right now. After everything that we have been through, I did not think that we would ever get here."

Pressing a kiss against his lips, she ran her fingers through his dark hair. "Good things happen to those that have faith and believe, Johnny. You never gave up on me, even when I gave up on myself."

"I always knew that you would land on your feet, baby. I had no doubt about that. You have more strength and resolve than any other person that I have ever met." With her cradled in his arms, Johnny brushed a fingertip over her plush lips. "Do you remember when you had Cam and what I promised? That I would never leave you if I had a choice. I knew then that you were the one that was meant for me."

Tears filled her eyes as she looked at him. "You were so sure that Cameron and I would both be fine. You were my rock." She pressed a hand to her still flat tummy. "And now we are having another child. One that you and I created."

"That we are, but I will love all our kids the same, Liz." His fingers intertwined with hers as he felt his heart ache for all that she had been through and all that she still had to face. "You know, learning of the cancer only enforces that life is too short with too many unknown twists in it. No matter how much you plan ahead and try to control what happens, destiny will never let you be in charge. I do know that I love you, Elizabeth, and I cannot lose you." Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out a blue velvet bag and opened it. The white gold band that emerged was inlaid with sapphires with a beautiful diamond centered in the middle. Hearing her soft gasp, he tilted her chin up so that he could see her eyes. "I want to marry you, Elizabeth, to spend eternity with you. I know that it may be too soon..."

Gently placing a trembling finger to his lips, she licked her lips nervously. "It's been way too long, Johnny. This moment has been coming since we met. I want to spend eternity with you too."

Slipping the ring on the correct finger, he crushed his lips to hers and knew that their lives were finally heading in the right direction. And although it was rare that he ever prayed, he had been since learning about the cancer and the pregnancy. But one thing that he was certain of was that he not wasting a single moment of the time that they had left. Whether it be months or years, Johnny was never wasting a second of that time.

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